WCS SchoolCast: (Back) Bob Phillips, Territory Manager, and Timothy McCarrell, President/CEO, of High Ground Solutions, distributor for the SchoolCast Rapid Alert and Notification System, assists Mike Culberson, principal of LaFayette Middle School, and Michael Tipton, Walker County Schools Coordinator of School Improvement, in setting up school accounts.
Walk down a street anywhere and you will see people on cell phones talking or texting. They are away from their desks and still receiving instant communications. This is the concept behind the SchoolCast System instituted this fall by the Walker County Schools District for parent notification.
According to Timothy McCarrell, President and CEO, SchoolCast is a "rapid alert and notification system "that enables schools to reach parents, faculty and staff, emergency contacts, guardians, first responders" within moments through use of phones, faxes, email, pagers and PDAs. "Without SchoolCast it would take several hours to reach all necessary parties," he said.
Using the SchoolCast network, Walker County Schools administrators can inform parents about everything from a late bus schedule to what's happening at school that day with everyone receiving the same, accurate information within minutes. The network also tries again if a party cannot be reached so that every contact on the list is completed and provides a call back service to repeat messages.
"This is the fastest and most accurate method for parent notification that we have found," said Superintendent Melissa Mathis. "We understand that parents want to be informed of issues affecting students and that there are times when we need to get information out quickly."
The Walker County Board of Education selected the SchoolCast system last spring after researching similar products on the market. "The Board noticed these information systems being used successfully by colleges," said Board of Education Chairman Mike Carruth, and determined Walker County Schools would benefit from such a program. "We serve a lot of students and staff in a big county," he said. An automatic information system makes mass communication faster and more accurate.